This quantitative study examined state and local funding and district spending
patterns for English language learning (ELL) students in Texas. The purpose of this
study was to examine the vertical equity of the state public school funding system from
1997-2007 for purchasing educational resources for ELL students. Vertical equity was
operationalized through a research-based framework that places ELL students at risk of
academic failure. Regression analysis examined vertical equity through (a) the extent to
which the quantity of ELL students within districts predicted the TPSFM funding output
for ELL students in districts over 10 years and (b) the extent to which, when districts are
grouped by like-sized populations of ELL students within each of the 10 years, the
quantity of ELL students within districts with like-sized populations of ELL students
predicted the TPSFM funding output for ELL students. The findings revealed that from
1997-2007, the ELL student funding component was not found to be a statistically significant predictor for district spending on ELL students in any given Texas district.
The present study therefore concludes with a discussion of policy implications and
recommendations for further study. Within the current punitive culture for student
assessment results and annual yearly progress measures, these findings indicate that
programs serving ELL students may be constrained to produce results in areas where
they are not equitably funded to be able to do so. In the daily life of school operations,
teachers and administrators may be well aware that the state's mechanism does not
supply adequate funding for the education of ELL students, therefore the results of this
study may serve policy makers to clearly see the elephant of inequitable funding
standing in the classroom.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:tamu.edu/oai:repository.tamu.edu:1969.1/ETD-TAMU-2010-12-8832 |
| Date | 2010 December 1900 |
| Creators | Eason, Noelle Rogers |
| Contributors | Lara-Alecio, Rafael, Durodola-Pollard, Sharolyn |
| Source Sets | Texas A and M University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | thesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
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